Aston Villa will be kicking themselves on Sunday morning following their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal only 24 hours earlier.
Unai Emery‘s side went into the match after beating Arsenal in back-to-back games last season and knowing they could pile early misery on the Premier League title chasers.
But Ollie Watkins had a shocking game for Villa, missing two guilt-edge chances to score, before Mikel Arteta’s side eventually punished their opponents in the second half.
It was a right kick in the teeth, with the game overall being sloppy, slow and with very few chances created despite the quality of players on show.
Many expected, because it’s early on in the season, the game was going to be more aggressive, perhaps end-to-end and played much quicker.
But it was far from that and Arteta suggested that Aston Villa‘s tactics played a part, especially their actions from a defensive aspect.
Matty Cash went off injured in the first half, but he started at right-back, alongside Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne.
Emery opted against bringing in Diego Carlos and pushing Konsa to right-back, even when Cash went off – Carlos was Man of the Match home and away against Arsenal last season.
Arteta stated that Villa’s ‘behaviour’ from a defensive aspect surprised him and it took time for his team to adjust and react to it.
The Arsenal boss suggested it was a reason why the game was a little slow because he didn’t want the game to be that way.
Either way, Arteta hailed Villa as a team and how they are ‘really well coached’, including the difficulty of playing at Villa Park, as he told Sky Sports Premier League.
Aston Villa’s tactics against Arsenal
“Yes, we did,” stated Arteta on if Arsenal had control of the game. “Especially the approach Villa had from the beginning, which we were surprised.
“The way they behaved, especially defensively. But, it’s fine, you have to make the game. We had to pick up the pace a little bit because it became too slow. You feel comfortable on that and it’s not a game we want to play. We created two or three big chances. Watkins had one here a big one (first half) and then David (Raya) changed the game. The save of David changed the whole game and then we have a good dynamic to score the goal and then we were on top of the game.
“Well, they were a little bit different to what they have been doing, especially at home. But that’s it. We have to adapt. We are going to have to play a lot of games like that. The holding midfielder had a very specific behaviour with our attacking midfielders as well. We have to find something else and the moment we understand the game, we created more and more problems. Credit to them. They are a great side and really well-coached. And it’s a very difficult place to come and win.”
Morgan Rogers performance
Villa can’t kick themselves too much and they need to look at the positives from the game, including Morgan Rogers’ performance against Arsenal.
He didn’t deserve to be on the losing side and caused a very strong Arsenal midfield pure havoc.
Ever since Villa signed the attacking midfielder from Middlesbrough in January, he has been outstanding and is now one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Even in defeat, Rogers was the best player on the park for Villa and someone who will earn that England call sooner rather than later.
